Bright And Loony
by ehb1998yahoo.com
Summary: Ivy lives in the wild households of the Dawsons. She has three sisters: Daisy, Rose, and Elly. She has a close relationship with Daisy and Rose, but she never really thought about her and Luna's relationship that much, until recently. This is the story of an ordinary girl and her misunderstood older sister, Moony, as they call her.
1. Park Bench

Flipping my sister's senior picture this way and that in my hands, shoes scuffing the pavement, the wind whipping my cheeks, I waited for my Ma to pick me up and take me to Gramma's.

My name is Ivy. Cool name huh? Well, not to me. You see, my two other sisters are named Rose and Daisy. Yeah, I know. My parents are hippies, and they wanted to give us all names that were related to plants and the Earth and stuff.

I'm sixteen years old. I have a lot of regrets in life, but they'll always remain the same unless I go and fix the problems I've caused.

An old, heavy-set woman with red lipstick and a motherly face sat next to me, purse in both her hands, floral perfume polluting the air around me with its smell.

I could feel her eyes on me, lazily gazing at the picture in my fingers.

"Now who's that pretty young lady in the picture child?" She asked with curiosity.

I turned, squinting at her face skeptically, and she just smiled.

I stretched, and responded.

"This is my sister Elly. But we call her Moony."

She chuckled. "Moony? And why do y'all call her that?"

I sighed and looked at the sun. It was a good question, damn sure it was.

"Well, it's kind of a long-"

"Do tell, child. I ain't going nowhere! Unless you have to go somewhere, I'd like to hear it."

I hesistated, and then to my own surprise, told the tale.


	2. One Nickname, Two Meanings

**It all started on June 1st, 1994, when my mother Laina Dawson gave birth to my oldest sister Elly Marie Dawson.**

My father Rick and mother Laina were overjoyed that they had had a baby girl, my Mom could dress her up in all sorts of poofy dresses and teach her how to be a girl, while my father would have his little girl, his princess, to teach valuable lessons about life and to make so she wouldn't get into trouble.

A happy, wholesome, and normal family they had until in February of 1995, my older twin sisters Rose and Daisy were born.

Now, you may think that my parents would be even more happy now that their family had grown much larger than expected.

You, are wrong.

In late 1994, when my sister Elly was six months old, my parents were both laid off and had to move out of their house and into an apartment.

Apparently, in high school they had so many luxuries that this had become a shock to them.

**But they moved on**.

They eventually had to get new jobs to pay for the apartment and buy things Elly needed. The hours were long and they became stressed and short tempered with others. They had to get a nanny for Elly, but they still didn't back down.

**They moved on once again.**

Right before Rose and Daisy were born, and Elly started to walk, she was in an accident and the nanny had to take her to the hospital. Ma and Daddy had to pay lots of money for Elly to get surgery, and that's when they realized they were losing lots of money.

**This is when they gave up.**

Daisy and Rose were born, and they only thought that made matters worse. But they thought that the whole reason for all this trouble was because Elly, their little girl, was born. " Elly ruined everything. Elly shoudn't have been born." I've heard Ma say those things herself, while Daddy stayed silent.

The Dawson household was only crazier and more stressful. Ma stayed home with the kids, firing the nanny, while Daddy worked so much my sisters never saw him. When the twins were two, and Elly was three, I, Ivy Angel Dawson, was born on March 6th, 1996. I would be the last of the kids, because Ma started taking the pill. I heard her mutter it to herself once.

* * *

My earliest memory was when I was three years old, and I gave Elly her nickname.

I was sitting in Daddy's lap, staring at the stars in wonder, when I thought I spotted an enormous star, larger than ever. I poked Daddy in the arm and pointed up to it.

He chuckled. "That's the moon Ivy."

My eyes widened. "The moon?" I didn't know what it meant.

"Yes. It's makes the waves on the beach happen, and it keeps the Earth lit up at nighttime."

I gawked at it stupidly. "Oh."

He chuckled again. That chuckle I don't hear anymore.

"Hey Daddy?"

"Yes Ivy?"

"Can I call Elly Moony?"

He laughed heartily. "Moony? But why?"

"Because she's pretty like the moon and I wanna be just like her when i grow up."

He smiled. "That's sweet Ivy. Moony it is."

Now, originally, I wanted Moony to be a positive name, but when Elly entered the first grade, things started to change.

Ma and I picked Elly up at school on the first day, and I was peering out the window at the colorful playground while my tired mother smoked a cigarette in the front seat.

At four years old, you usually don't notice much except really vivid things, but I remember seeing Elly running around in her blue shorts and yellow t-shirt and a boy in a jumper running after her, calling her things.

"Loony Moony! Loony Moony!"

She just giggled. "Why you calling me that? That's silly!"

"Because you're Loony Moony. You're stupid and a dummy and your nickname is Moony!" He stuck his toungue out at her and she giggled again, surprisingly unaffected by his meanness.

Then, he shoved her with his short arms and she fell down on her butt, hitting the hard pavement, making her burst into tears.

"Ow! That hurt!" She stood up and wiped her tears, sniffling, while the boy ran away after sticking his tongue out at her again.

"Mama! There's Moony!" I pointed out the window at Moony who was sitting on a green bench, swinging her legs.

"What? Oh." She crushed the butt in the ashtray, shoved the box in her purse, and trekked across the parking lot and grabbed Elly's hand.

Elly looked disgruntled and still slightly upset as she clumsily climbed in the crappy, old car, and our hippie mother sped off.

This is how Elly got her nickname, though it means two different things to different people.


	3. Dysfunctional Home

You'd be incorrect if you said Elly wasn't different. Of course, what is normal?

See, normal in my eyes is what we're used to. The world is full of predjudice, mainstream is what keeps people from judging each other, though there is always hate. What I mean is if everyone dresses in the latest fashions and listens to music that's on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, then it's a bit easier to avoid being judged.

When I entered the sixth grade, that's when It clicked in my brain, the idea that I for some reason I needed to be likr everyone else, though it's virtually impossible. Yeah, that's right.

I didn't know this, my stupid little eleven year old brain couldn't process this.

I remember walking into the lunchroom shyly, my sister Rose's old, beaten up black Chuck Taylor's on my feet because our family was poor. I had on Rose and Daisy's old clothes, and occasionally Moony's old clothes. I never got new clothes. But neither did my older siblings.

I brushed my brown hair well that morning, put it into a high ponytail, and my clothes were kinda cute I guess, but people often stared at me strangely.

I clutched my brown paper bag lunch, scanning the room nervously, hopeful to see someone I knew from elementary school sitting somewhere.

I saw noone, but then I looked in the corner of the large tiled room and saw my eldest sister waving maniacly at me, calling my name, drawing some attention from others in the room. I looked down at my feet, embarrassed, and speedwalked along the wall towards my sister, until someone said my name, making me stop.

"Hello? Ivy? Wanna sit with us?" I blonde girl wearing a pink dress and a ton of makeup stood in front of me, smiling widely.

I met her eyes and smiled sheepishly and nodded. "Sure. Thanks."

I cast a small glance at Moony, who just kept waving, but stopped calling my name. I then had a change of attitude, no no more embarrassed Ivy, I glared at her. She just smiled stupidly.

The girl in the pink dress led me to her table, and I noticed right away that these were the popular girls. Their table was also largest, and the girls were all eating their food daintily and giggling about nonsense. I didn't think this at the time, I was just thrilled that one let me sit with them.

They all looked at me curiously as I sat down, and when I smiled at them a little, they all beamed, and the girl who was wearing the pink dress turned to me.

"I'm Janie. This is Clare, Hannah, Britt and Kimmy." She pointed to the girls around the tables.

I smiled at them, feeling a little braver. "I'm Ivy."

The redhead named Hannah smiled. "Ooh! What a pretty name!"

I blushed. "Thanks."

Two other girls sat down, and Hannah turned to me. "This is Cara and Daisy." I raised my eyebrows at my sister, who just raised her eyebrows back.

"This is my sister Hannah." Daisy pointed to me, and Hannah just smiled her toothy grin.

"Wow! That's so cool."

Daisy sat down with her salad at the end of the table, and began talking to Cara.

I began to feel slightly vulnerable throughout lunch, thesd girls didn't talk about things I liked. Superficial.

It didn't help that Daisy didn't help me much. She just eyed me strangely every once in a while.

Daisy and I were very close, I didn't know why she was acting like this all of a sudden at school. I just ate my lunch in silence as the girls at my table blabbed.

When lunch was over, I walked towards the exit, only to be stopped by Janie.

"Hey, we were wondering if you wanted to sit with us everyday?" She looked hopeful. At this, I smiled. She didn'y seem as fake as the other girls.

"Okay. Thanks."

She smiled and ran back to the table, and I couldn't help but peer back at Moony, eating her lunch by herself, probably lonely. I shook my head and walked down the hall to my locker.

On my way to Art class, over the sounds of kids yelling and talking, I heard a familiar voice call my name. I groaned.

"Moony what do you want?" I demanded, turning.

She smiled widely as she halted in front of me. "We have art together!"

I rolled my eyes. "You've got to be kidding me."

She shook her head. "Nope! We can sit together Ivy!"

Before I could protest, my deranged sister grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall, dragging me into Mr. Roth's Art class.

She let go and I scurried to the back of the room, sitting at the back table, putting my head down. I was exhausted. This day was crazy.

I felt someone poke me in the shoulder.

"Ivy! Wake up sleepyhead!" Moony resumed poking me until I moaned and lifted my head, glaring at my sister's happy face.

"Sit and be quiet." I ordered, and she obeyed.

The rest of the class was tolerable, except for the strange stares from other students every once in a while. I was stuck and vulnerable again. I didn't want my sister there.

She was thirteen, and acted like she was five. Why did she act this way?

It only got worse when we got home.

After the bus ride, in which I sat with Daisy and Cara, leaving Moony to sit in the back smiling dumbly out the window and kids throwing paper airplanes at her.

We moved into this crappy shack of a house a year before, and the only things about it I liked were the fact that it was bigger than the apartment, and we had a huge yard. Barely any neighbors too.

Ma was waiting for us on the porch, smoking a cigarette as usual, and doing a crossword puzzle.

She looked up tiredly, and as I said goodbye to Cara and hopped off the bus, I ran and gave Ma a hug, which she returned.

"How are you kid?" She managed a smile and I shrugged.

Daisy walked across the grass, shoving past us and walking in the house without saying hello.

"Eh, alright. I made some friends. How are you Ma? You look tired."

She crushed the butt of her cigarrette in her ashtray and took off her glasses. "That's good you made friends. I'm just stressed. I was helping Gramma today. She's not well."

Moony wildly ran across the yard, jumping into Ma's arms.

Ma sighed. "Moony calm-"

"Ma! School was so fun Ivy is in my-"

"Go inside and shut up will you?" Ma snapped, shoving Moony off.

Moony just nodded, and ran inside, hanging up her bookbag.

I shook my head and walked inside after her, and Ma stayed outside, resuming with her crossword.

Daisy hopped lazily on the couch, flipping on the TV, while Moony sat cross-legged on the floor, and Daisy changed the channel to Degrassi.

I was about to pour myself a glass of orange juice when I heard Ma yelling.

"How the hell do you think that was a good idea? You go home on the bus!"

"I'm sorry Ma! But she offered!" Rose cried.

"Go to your room! Don't be pullin' shit like that again. I was worried sick."

I walked over to the screen door, and I saw Ma smack Rose across the face, and Rose hung her head and strolled past us, making Moony turn, and she ran up the stairs. A few seconds later I heard her slam the door to our room.

Ma came in with the paper, tossing it on the kitchen tabel, muttering stuff about a 'misbehaving little brat'.

She turned to Daisy snd snatched the remote from her.

"I said no TV until you do your homework."

"I already did it on the bus!" She yelled.

"Don't raise your voice with me!" She yanked Daisy by the arms and ushered her up the stairs.

I heard the door slam again, and Ma flipped the TV off.

"Do your homework you little shit." She pointed to Moony, who scrambled up and grabbed her bookbag.

Before Ma turned to me, I started pulling out my homework assignments and sat down at the counter.

Ma looked at me, mumbled something, and trudged up the stairs to her room, probably to drink.

She may be an alcoholic and an unsupportive mom most of the time, but she did know how to give orders and ground us well.


	4. Neglect

That night at around nine o clock, Daddy came in through the front door, making his way through the dark, not noticing me sitting on the couch reading a book by flashlight.

"Dad," I whispered.

He stopped at the stairs and turned. His silouhette ony showed.

"Ivy?"

"Hey Dad. Everyone else just went to bed. I'm just reading."

"Oh. Hey kid. It's good to see you. Try to get to bed in the next half hour. Good night.

"Good night Dad. Love you."

"Love you too honey." I heard the steps creak as he climbed them quickly, and a few minutes later I put my book down and tiptoed up the stairs into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

THE NEXT DAY

My four sisters and I woke up to the alarm going off at 7:45, a quick getting ready, breakfast, and boarding of the bus at 8:15.

Daisy, Cara and I chattered about some of the teachers while Rose sat with her friend Frank. Moony, as usual, sat in the way back, staring out the window cluelessly.

"So what do you think about Mr. Roth?" Cara asked, putting her dirty blonde hair behind her ears.

"He's cool. He seems kinda old. But he's cool." I shrugged.

"I heard he's only like forty." Daisy said giggling.

I smiled and blushed. "Whoops."

Daisy and Cara laughed, and Rose and Frank just groaned and resumed talking about videogames.

My sister, Cara and I hopped off the bus together, Rose, Frank and the rest of the bus lagging behind, and we enteres the school, still giggling.

My first class was Math with Ms. Carlson, who seemed really young and new. She was real happy and jittery and I for the most part liked her.

Hannah and Janie, luckily, were in my Math class.

I sat between them and they smiled widely at me.

"Hey Ivy." Hannah said. "I love that shirt." She said, pointing to my pink ruffly shirt that used to be Moony's.

I flushed red. "Oh, well, thanks."

"Where'd you get it?"

I lied. "Some random designer store. From my mom."

"Wow that's so cool." Janie gushed.

I turned red again and pulled out my notebooks.

After Math, I had History and then Science. Janie was in my history class, and next came Spanish.

Rose was in that class with me, because she took French the year before, and the way it works at out junior high is you pick either French or Spanish and you take either one in sixth grade, then whichever class you didn't take you take in seventh. You take them only one semester in sixth and seventh. The other semesters you take gym. In eighth grade, you pick whichever language you want and take that the whole year. Gym is to be a seperate class taken all year.

Rose barely paid attention to me, and I did the same. We had different personalities that year, we just weren't very close back then.

Rose sat at the back of the class with her friend Jake, and I sat by this nerdy looking girl with a Lord of The Rings tee on and a pencil in her hair.

As I sat down, I smiled at her politely and she frowned.

"You're one of the popular girls aren't you."

"What?" I was confused.

"You sit with them. At lunch. Janie Sawyer? Hannah Janners? Do you know them? What about Daisy Dawson? She's not so bad in fact I like her but-"

"Yes I know them. But they're nice. Daisy is my sister."

She shook her head, her hair bouncing. "You don't know what you're getting into. Daisy is nice, stick with her, and maybe Cara, but those other girls are not nice."

I furrowed my brows and went deep in thought, getting out my binder and pencil. What did this mean? Should I be concerned?

I shook my head at the thought, dismissing it from my brain. I realk shouldn't of done this.

"What's your name?"

She smiled a little. "Sarah."

I smiled warmly. "Ivy. Nice to meet you."

She seemed hesitant, but then smiled wider. "Nice to meet you too."

This girl I would consider having as a friend. But I couldn't ditch my new friends. And my sister even. Daisy and I bickered just like sistsrs usually do, but we were definitely much closer with each other than with our other sisters, by a longshot. We had nice talks and liked some of the same things.

I bit my nails throughout Spanish class, thinking about both my friend issue and how difficult this year in Spanish would be.

"Did you take Spanish in elementary school?" Sarah whispered to me, taking off her glasses. Her eyes were a pretty greenish blue.

"Yeah. Fourth and fifth grade. I've always had trouble with it though."

"I'm actually a little Spanish, that has nothing to do with anything, but I learned it when I was little. If you ever have trouble with it I'd be glad to help you." She smiled almost hopefully, as if she wanted to help.

"Sure, that would be great. Thanks a lot Sarah."

She nodded, and I resumed listening to Señora Lawensky, who wasn't even Spanish, blab on and on about what we were gonna learn that year, until the bell rang for me to go to lunch.

I sat with Hannah and Janie, like I said I would, and this time Cara and Daisy sat down next to me, and we talked the whole time, making my lunch experience a lot better. Maybe Daisy realized how nervous I was yesterday, starting middle school and all.

At the end of lunch, I began to dread Art. Terrible, I know, hating a class only after one day of it. It was because Moony was in it. Even worse, I know.

Moony jumped me in the hallway practically, and dragged me to Mr. Roth's class again, making me sit in the back at the same table we were at yesterday again. I immediately put my head down again, and she kept poking me in the shoulder until I slapped her hand away and she quit it.

Mr. Roth droned on and on until I snapped out of my daydream, and saw kids getting out their sketchbooks.

Moony peered at me with a concerned look on her face, big brown eyes wide, and I grew annoyed.

"What." I demanded.

"I'm just making sure you're okay! We're drawing portraits of people today. Can I draw you? Maybe you could draw Kelly Clarkson or somebody, since she's your fav-"

I clasped my hand over Moony's mouth, I was pretty irritated at this point.

"Moony, can you do me a favor and just shut up for the rest of the period? Just draw. Quietly."

She nodded and started drawing guidelines. I pulled out my pencils, and to my suprise I began to draw Kelly Clarkson without thinking. I was terrible at drawing, that was my only problem. I wasn't sure how bad Moony was, but I was absorbed in my own drawing. I was trying to make it look alright, and I would definitely need to work on it in class for the next few days.

When I left Art without saying a word to my annoying sister, I had forgotten to tell Moony not to draw me, I certainly didn't want her drawing me. She was too spacey sometimes, it would be embarassing too. My crazy sister drawing her younger sister nothing like her. She would tell the class it was me too, and that I was her sister, when she would present it. Mr. Roth apparently has us present our artwork when we finish.

Great. Fantastic. For both me and Moony. I would present my horrible drawing and Moony would present her terrible drawing of me. And she'd make it clear I had the same blood as hers.

I figured it would be unfair to tell her no now, so I just hoped and prayed it would look decent and I walked to my last class of the day, English, which was just boring as hell.

The room was stifling hot and not to mention the most annoying kids are in that class, with the exception of Moony.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and dragged myself to my locker, throwing my unneeded books in it, grabbing my sweatshirt, which I questioned myself why I even took to school in the first place, slammed it shut, and met Daisy and Cara at the front door who were chattering happily.

"Hey." I said, yawning.

"Hey!" Daisy said happily. "You look tired." She giggled.

"Yeah, my English class is also really hot."

"Ah, Mrs. Robinsky?" Cara asked.

"Yeah." I said, before freezing at a familiar voice calling my name. I turned to Daisy, who didn't look happy either, and I just ran to the bus Daisy and Cara following, and a crazed looking Moony right behind them.

We all boarded, I told Moony to sit in the back as usual, and I had a good conversation with Daisy and Cara. Overall, Daisy and Cara were pretty mature and nonsuperficial for being twelve and friends with Janie and Hannah and some of the other girls I'm embarrassed to say, I don't remember the names of. There's several reasons for that.

I said goodbye to Cara and my sisters and I jumped off the bus and I ran across the yard to greet Ma, cigarette in hand, crossword puzzle in the other. To my good suprise, she was smiling, and seemed genuinely happy to see us. No stressed, uncaring Ma.

I hugged her, and she asked how I was, crushing her cigarette in the ashtray and running her hand through her wavy reddish brown hair.

"I'm alright. Just tired. I had another good day. How are you Ma?"

She smiled a bit. "Gramma's better. Things are going well. I'm trying to stay healthy. I want things to be better for you kids."

"I'm proud of you Ma." I slipped inside, and Daisy pulled out her homework and began doing it while Degrassi was on TV. Rose sat down in the recliner and grabbed the remote, turning the volume down. Daisy glared at her, and Rose just smirked.

Moony ran inside, threw her bookbag down, and threw herself on the couch, making Daisy recoil a bit.

Moony beamed and pulled out what looked like math homework, and began doing it.

I watched with curiosity as Moony furrowed her brows in concentration and in a few minutes was donw with her homework. I thought she was either really smart or she guessed on all of the problems. I decided on the last option.

Rose was reading To Kill A Mockingbird, and I began drawing more of my art project, and it was pretty quiet for a while.

I sat down in the armchair across from the recliner and watched Degrassi with Daisy when Moony spoke up.

"Hey Ivy, do you wanna sit with me at lunch tomorrow?"

I frowned. "No." Rose looked up from her book, eyeing me. She didn't like Moony either, but she didn't quite approve of the neglect we all give her. Rose is kind of a hypocrite really.

"Okay." After Moony looked hopeful and just gave up, concentrating on her other homework again, my heart sank slightly. I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her.

I dismissed the thought and turned my attention to Degrassi, a show I never really liked but i watched it anyways because Daisy Liked to. Daisy was kind of the boss. Rose was down to earth and tomboyish, and mature. Daisy was materialistic, bossy at times, but sweet. Moony was just nuts. She wasn't mean to any degree, but she was completely insane. Ma doesn't even like her...

When Moony was done with her homework, Rose went upstairs and shut herself in our room until dinnertime, which was basically food we all mad ourselves, and Daisy, Moony and I watched Degrassi for a while. Ma came in, smelling like smoke and looking her usual exhausted, and trudged up the stairs and closing her door, to probably drink and watch TV I guessed. She realky wasn't trying to get healthier was she?

I was a suprisingly non hectic night, and I slept well.

It would be a matter of time before Moony would go on insane overdrive again.


	5. Popsicle

On Friday, when I got home from another good day of school, I did my homework quickly and ran outside in shorts and a tank top in the warm, Oklahoma air. It wasn't too terribly hot, which made me pleased, but it was still pretty warm. It was in August after all. We had an old rusty swingset that belonged to the family who lived here before us, but they left it for us, saying it would be in better hands. Their kids were all adults in college anyways. Since I got home at around 2:45 everyday from school when I was in middle school, I usually had lots of time outside after I did my homework to enjoy the fresh air. After about ten minutes of swinging, I groaned when I saw an ecstatic Moony running across the lawn, hair flying and something in her hand. "Ivy! Ivy!" She acted so childish. She and I were both kids, but even I acted more mature than she did and I'm two years younger than she is.

"What." I snapped, slipping off the swing and brushing off my khaki shorts.

"I found popsicles! Here. This one is strawberry." She held out a popsicle in a wrapper and I reluctantly took it.

"Um, thanks." "You're welcome!" She unwrapped hers, and then I noticed her sleeve go down and a big, dark bruise peeking out. "Moony, what's this?" I grabbed her arm gently and pointed to the bruise.

She pulled down her sleeve. "Nothing." She flushed red, and lost her bright smile, which was highly unusual. She resumed eating her popsicle. "Moony did Ma-" Her tone became normal and not high pitched. "Yes." "What did you do?" "Nothing." She backed away. "Really?" "Ivy, I did nothing." She was serious. "Then why did Ma hurt you?" She shook her head and then began skipping inside, acting smiley again, and from what happened that day I knew the way she usually acted was an act. ~*~ The next day, Ma had a big fit, and let's just say the four of us were all sent up to our rooms, and told to shut up. Daisy sighed and sank down in her beanbag. I sat on the bottom bunk of the bunk bed Moony and I shared, and Rose and Moony sat cross-legged on the floor, Moony humming to herself and tracing stuff in the carpet. "Moony, why'd you get us in trouble?" Rose was grim and staring at Moony. Moony's head snapped up, wide-eyed and smiley as usual. "What do you mean?" "You know. It's always your fault." Wow, Rose was a real bitch then. "Rose-"Daisy warned. She only did this to keep Rose from yelling and getting us into more trouble. Rose groaned and pulled out her manga book and began reading. I sat awkwardly on the bed, biting my nails and staring out the window, chipped and old. Like everything else in that damn house. After a while Daisy spoke up. "Hey Ivy, do you wanna go to the park later?" I nodded. "Okay." She smiled. I was glad she asked. I needed to get out of the house, I didn't want to be around Ma. And also I didn't want Moony to get hurt… Things needed to change. Daddy was never home, and Ma was horrible to us, but mostly to Moony. Moony definitely got the brunt of the pain. She was the oldest, but she still deserved more sympathy. Someone needed to do something. I may have been only eleven, but I was quite clever.


	6. Picnic Table

Daisy asked Ma if we could go to the park together, and she seemed relieved we even asked, because she smiled.  
The walk was short, but it was still pretty warm out, and Daisy and I decided to hang out at the picnic tables as usual.  
"So, how are your grades?" Daisy asked quite randomly, tracing the cracks in the wooden table.  
"We've only had school for three days…"  
She laughed. "Yeah, just trying to start a conversation here."  
"Oh. Well, anything new?"  
She squinted at the sun. "Not really. I heard Hannah's being a real bitch. I've been avoiding the rest of them."  
My eyes widened at the word 'bitch'. I didn't hear her say it til' then.  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"Well, she's pretty much always been like that, I've just been too dumb and blind to realize that. I've been hanging with Cara more. And you of course. Cara's cool. You should get to know her more."  
"Oh. So that's what Sarah meant."  
She raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Sarah Fisher?"  
"I think so…?"  
"Always wears Lord of the Rings tees, has pencils in her hair, really smart-"  
"Yep, that's her."  
She laughed. "Ah. Nice girl, but she's a bit off. You've been talking to her?"  
"Yeah. She's in my Spanish class. She's nice. But she told me to avoid the other girls at our table. But she said you were nice."  
Her smile sort of faded. "Oh really? Well, I wouldn't get too comfortable with her. She's had her faults. Stick with me and Cara, and you're good. I'll warn you about anyone else you should avoid too."  
"Thanks Daisy."  
"No problem."  
There was a calming silence, and I listened to the wind against the trees, felt the warmth of the sun as it started to go down.  
"Moody's been acting strange lately." I blurted.  
Daisy smirked. "Well she is all the time isn't she?"  
I frowned. "But yesterday I saw a bruise on her arm and she was acting all weird about it. Like she was trying to hide it. And she wasn't all bubbly or anything."  
"Well, what can I say?" She threw her arms in the air carelessly, making me disappointed.  
"You don't get it do you?" I couldn't believe what I was doing. Was I sticking up for Moony?  
She looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"  
"Everyone is so mean to her. I don't know Daisy, I-"  
"Well you're one of them. Think about it Ivy, she's insane. She's freaking annoying as well."  
I decided to leave it there, but I wasn't finished quite yet. Well, I was for now.

Daisy and I walked back in silence, and as soon as I got in the house Ma was in a bad mood, and grabbed me by the shirt as soon as I walked in.  
"You're late. Explain yourself." She demanded.  
I looked at Daisy, who seemed to not exist to Ma at the time, and didn't even bother to make her presence known to save me. She snuck up the stairs and I faced my mother.  
I gulped. "I'm sorry. I went for a walk and someone held me up ."  
She gritted her teeth. "Held you up. Well you better fuckin' come home next time or I'll punch your fuckin' teeth out ya hear that?" She raged, throwing me into the couch. I sat up with wobbly legs and pressed my lips together hard as I scrambled up the stairs into my room.  
I fell onto my bed crying into the sheets, not noticing Moony and Rose in the room.  
"Ivy?" Rose asked. She rarely was sensitive back then, but she did care about others to some degree.  
I looked up, tears rolling down my face. I wiped them, looking at my two sisters looking at me wide-eyed. Even Moony lost that smile of hers.  
"I'm fine. It's just Ma. She threw me and yelled at me."  
"I'm sorry. We all get it sis. Moony got it real bad about an hour ago." Rose eyed Moony, who held up her bandaged arm. My eyes widened.  
"Moony-"  
She shook her head.  
"She did something bad apparently." Rose said, looking annoyed, and I frowned.  
"Oh." Rose just nodded, not realizing that Moony probably had her feelings hurt by her saying this. I wasn't sure though. She was unpredictable after all…  
Moony's face brightened and she beamed. "Wanna draw?"  
"I think I'm gonna go to sleep. Okay? I'm tired." I climbed up to the top bunk and climbed under the covers.  
Moony just nodded, smiling, and opened the door to the hallway, when I hopped down, jogging to the bathroom to brush my teeth with Moony.  
Rose soon followed, and I went to bed really early. My sisters went downstairs to watch TV, and then came up at around ten.


	7. Annoying Shadow

I woke up at around eight o' clock, yawning and climbing down the ladder of my bunk, arousing Moony below, making her open her eyes. "Dang it." I said under my breath as I ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth. "Ivy! Good morning!" Moony said a little too loudly as she nudged my shoulder when I was brushing my teeth, making me shove her hard. She hit the shower, banging her elbow, and then reached forward for her blue toothbrush. I spit in the sink and splashed water on my face, ran into my room to change, and to my annoyance was followed by Moony as usual. This was every. Flipping. Morning. "Moony I need to change." I turned to her and she backed away smiling and nodding, and ventured into the hall. I changed into shorts and a green Aerosmith tee that I got from my mother, and I hopped down the stairs, only to find Moony eating cereal at the table, another bowl right next to her.

"Come Ivy! I made you breakfast." She pointed to the blue bowl of corn flakes. I hesitated before sitting next to her, eating it quickly, throwing the bowl in the sink, and grabbing my flipflops. I ran outside and went around the house, hoping Moony wouldn't follow. She was so annoying. I couldn't stand it. I groaned out loud and kicked off my flipflops, sitting down on the grass, closing my eyes. I cringed when I felt Moony poke my shoulder and opened my eyes. "Hey Ivy! Wanna go on the swingset?" I walked over to the swingset without replying and sat on the lowest swing, lazily swinging back and forth while Moony went as high as she possibly could, and I had a vision that she would fly off and crash into the grass. "Slow down you idiot." I rolled my eyes and she slowed down a little. A thought from Friday crossed my mind, and I turned to Moony, swinging back and forth on the swing. "Hey Moony, you remember when I asked you what you did that made Ma hurt you on Friday?" She dodged the question. "Hey Ivy you wanna go catch frogs?" "That bruise." As she slowed down I pointed to her fading bruise. She looked at it and frowned. Something I still wasn't used to. "Ivy, I told you I didn't do anything." She looked serious. I closed my eyes. "You had to have done something." She stood up from the swing. "Let's go to the pond." She began walking through the grass. I grabbed her non-bandaged and non-bruised arm. She smiled brightly. "I said let's go Ivy. It'll be fun!" Crazy Moony returned. "Ivy, Ma hurts Rose, Daisy and I too but we do things to get hurt. You must've done some terrible stuff. You're nuts." She just went silent as she started walking towards the pond, and I just turned around and began walking back home, and to my complete and utter surprise she didn't even turn and follow me. ~*~ By afternoon I wished my Dad had been home. He was a carpenter, and worked multiple shifts a day, fixing tons and tons of stuff, and building houses. I needed him home, and so did my sisters. I may have had Daisy, but that surely wasn't enough. Ma was drunk up in her room most of the day, or smoking and doing a crossword, this was her weekend. Rose wasn't good to talk to, we didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things. And Moony was annoying and at the time I was just completely confused about her. I either felt sorry for her, or I hated her. Yeah, I'm not afraid to say that. I'm afraid of other things, sure, but not that. Horrible, I know. But my other sisters hated Moony too, and definitely Ma. Ma despised her. Daddy, well, I didn't know what he thought about her. It didn't help that she had that stupid nickname. I had forgotten I had given her the nickname as I got older, and I hadn't bothered to ask anyone exactly why she had it. But what I did know at age eleven, was people at school called her Loony Moony, and it wasn't a positive name. But my family members called her that so I thought it was okay. As we, my sisters and I, grew older together, Moony seemed to remain very childlike, never really matured to any degree at all, and sometimes I wondered if she had mental issues and needed a doctor. The doctor said she was fine though, and Ma didn't really care anyways, less expensive. But she was nuts, we all new that. She was thirteen and acted five. But those moments that Friday just left me confused and disoriented. Why had she switched personalities all of a sudden? From those times I questioned her, I couldn't get any answers out of her, that's for sure.


	8. Change of Posse

I happily marched in school well rested, grabbing my books from my locker and making my way to Math.

"Hey Ivy? How ya doin'?" Ms. Carlson chirped, her red curls bouncing as she made her way into the classroom. I giggled, sitting down next to Hannah and Janie.

"Hey guys." I said.

Hannah looked perplexed. "Oh, hey."

"Everything okay?"

She shrugged, looking me up and down.

I furrowed my brows and turned to Janie, who irritably slammed her books down on her desk.

"Seriously, you guys don't seem okay. You're usually happy."

Hannah glowered. "Whatever, Ivy." And to my complete and utter shock she took her ass out of her seat, grabbed Janie, and the two shuffled to the back of the class.

Hurt stabbed at my heart, crushing my spirits. What just happened? They just dumped me like that?

My eyes darted back and forth between them the whole class, hoping for a little smile or apologetic face or explanation, but they just glared.

At lunch, I plopped down next to Cara and Daisy, not bothering to look at Hannah or anyone else.

Daisy looked uneasy about something, and my heart dropped in my stomach, hoping that she wouldn't dump me too.

Cara kept looking at Janie from across the table, and it was awkward until Hannah spoke.

"You three need to move."

"Move?" I asked.

She titled her head to the side, making me feel dumb.

Daisy picked up her lunchtray. "I knew it. Come on guys."

Daisy motioned for me to sit up, and I scrambled up nervously and snagged my lunch, and Cara glared back at the table before the three of us made our way around the lunchroom, scanning it for empty tables. I saw zero.

I groaned. "Let's just sit there." I pointed to Moony's one-manned table.

Daisy didn't protest suprisingly, and quickly sat down across from Moony, slamming her tray down, making Moony look up and beam at the three of us.

Cara and i smiled sheepisly as Daisy jabbed at her salad. I looked at Cara.

"What's going on?"

Cara's eyes met the floor.

"Those assholes are not the right group to be with. I'll just leave it at that." Daisy snapped. I looked at Moony, who dropped her smile a bit, almost as if she felt sorry...

"So you guys are sitting here now?" Moony piped up after a minute.

"Yeah, I guess." I said shrugging. I looked across the room at the bitches' table and they were talking and laughing.

"Yay!" Moony squealed and bit into her apple. I bit my lip from smiling.

~*~ "Okay, today we will be presenting our drawings. The presentation is 20% of your grade." Mr. Roth droned.

I groaned a little next to Moony. My drawing looked alright, i still didn't want to present it though.

Moony's hand shot up. I facepalmed and sank lower in my chair.

"Okay, Elly, you go first." Mr. Roth smiled and pointed to Moony, who strided happily up to the front, her drawing facing away from the class.

"Loony Moony!" Someone yelled. Everyone roared with laughter, except me. Even Moony was laughing cluelessly

"Everyone, hush let Ms. Elly speak. You can start now. Just explain who you drew."

"Okay, I drew my sister Ivy! She's in the back!" I moaned and sank lower in my chair as everyone turned to me supressing laughs.

Then Moony turned the paper around. My eyes widened in complete fascination at the drawing. It was a masterpiece. It looked exactly like me! A picture perfect drawing. I gasped.

Everyone went silent as Moony held the drawing up, and then ran back to her seat and sat down smiling brightly. Then, to my suprise, a few people clapped. Then I started clapping. Soon, everyone in the entire class was applauding, Moony beaming proudly.

Recognition at last I guess?

"Moony, that drawing is amazing. Did you draw it or did someone else?" I whispered as some boy went up with his crappy drawing of LeBron James.

She frowned slightly. "Yeah, I did. Thanks Ivy. I like yours better though." She pointed a slender finger at my mediocre Kelly Clarkson drawing.

After a few more people went, I trudged up to the front of the class holding up my drawing.

"Ah, a sixth grader. Good job. You're good for a beginner. Keep up the good work." Mr. Roth smiled as the class clapped and I sat inmy seat.

People can really surprise you sometimes can't they?


	9. In The Shade, Or The Sun?

Two Months Later...

It's been two pretty good months of school, not that erratic. Moony's behavior has been pretty constant, annoying as usual. Cara, Daisy and I still sit with her at lunch, but Moony just acts read giddy at the end of the table, talking to herself and not noticing an annoyed Daisy glowering at her.

My grades have been fine, Sarah has been helping me with Spanish luckily, and I have all A's and B's. Ma doesn't care anyways, so it wouldn't exactly matter, but why not try ?

On a cool Friday I threw my bag on the couch right after school. Moony came running in, bumping into me, causing me to stumble.

"Watch it." I warned, and Rose smirked quietly while sneaking up the stairs.

"Heard that." I called, and her response was a slam of out bedroom door. Moony jumped, and I laughed.

Daisy came in later, turning on that god-foresaken Degrassi show, and turning over to me.

"Where's Ma?"

Moony and I shrugged. Moony hopped on the couch, but Daisy shoved her roughly towards the other side, a look of disgust plastered on her face.

"I'll go check her room." I gave in, running up the stairs and knocking on my mom's door.

No answer. I pushed the door open.

"Ma?" She was sleeping. I shook her. No response.

"Ma!" I checked her pulse. She had one, thank God.

I jumped about five stairs and grabbed Daisy, pulling her up the stairs and causing Moony to follow behind happily, just like a puppy with nothing else better to do.

Daisy gasped when she saw Ma and grabbed Ma's phone off the bedside table. Whiskey and beer bottles were under the bed and o the bedside table. There was also an ashtray full of some green stuff I just raised my eyebrows at.

I grabbed the whiskey bottle out of Ma's bony hand as Daisy claled 911 and Moony looked around stupidly.

"Okay, someone's coming." Daisy said shakily, fumbling with the cell phone and dropping it on the floor. I grabbed her wrists.

"Daisy, you need to relax."

She nodded and Moony ran to the window.

"Wow, that was fast!" Before I could restrain our insane sister she flew out the door and I heard her quick footsteps down the stairs.

As I was coming down Moony was already talking to a police officer who strided past me and opened Ma's door.

Daisy was standing over Ma's bed, and moved when the cop came in and took a look at her.

He gave a disapproving look at the alcohol and green stuff and turned to us. "Marijuana." He muttered and then some people came in and grabbed Ma, with my two sisters and I following down the stairs. A minute later Rose came out, ans started freaking out.

When they took Ma to the hospital to get her stomach pumped, she had alcohol poisining, I called Daddy and he drove to the hospital on the way home and stayed there til' eleven.

Rose and Daisy went to bed early, and Moony and I stayed up watching Spongebob and me silently worrying about Ma, until Daddy came home.

When Daddy came home that night and talked to us, that's when I started hating him.


	10. It's Been A While

One Year Later

"Seventh grade. Ah, good times. My story is long you see, but I have a lot to explain." I said to the woman.

She smiled a warm, big-toothed smile. "Keep going dear."

"Really?"

"Of course."

It was the weekend, and I was dying my hair bright red. Like firetruck red. I wanted to be a rebel. In sixth grade, I had no boobs, I was really girly, and I was vulnerable. In seventh, I gained cofidence, a chest, and a new sense of style.

Daisy walked in, stopping to look at me before digging through her stuff.

"Nice, I like it." She grinned.

I smiled and rinsed my hair, and she helped me dry it. It looked amazing. I was so happy with it.

Daisy had become less superficial over the past year, she was more of a girly scene girl. She was still a bit snooty, but she was cooler.

Rose was still quiet and sarcastic, but she was cooler too. Much nicer. But we still didn't mesh well. Daisy was still my friend.

Moony, well, even as a new high schooler, was insane. She grew into her face more though, and I actually looked twice one day and noticed how pretty she was getting. But she was still annoying as hell.

Cara met Daisy and I as we got off the bus, she was driven to school by her brother now, who was out of college.

She waved and wiggled her eyebrows at us. "Ready for schoolio?"

"Yeah, definitely." I said, shaking my head and walking into the building.

When I got to lunch, I began to panic because Cara and Daisy weren't in mine. Not even Rose!

I scurried around the room avoiding stares, which I was confused about, and I plopped down in a seat at an empty table.

Someone with blonde scene hair and a purple V-neck and cuff bracelets plopped down at my table, making me look up.

My eyes widened. "Janie?"

She smiled. "Hey Ivy. Okay if I sit here?"

"Um, sure. I though you-"

"I don't hate you Ivy. I hate Hannah." She pointed a finge across the room at a redheaded Hannah, becoming sluttier each year with short shorts with her buttcheeks practically hanging out.

"Wow, um, well when did you guys stop being friends?"

"Over the summer. I found out what really happened with your sister and Cara, and I fuckin' flipped and punched her, it was over after that." She shrugged, and poked at her pineapple chunks.

I bit my lip. "Wow. Uh, my sister never told me what happened."

"Did she want you to know?"

"No. She said she'd tell me when I was older. "

"Well, you're only a year younger than us, but I think you should know."

"Tell me."

"Don't tell your sister. Please. Hannah'll kill my ass."

"I won't."

She looked at the window and explained. "Okay, so basically, Hannah has apparently had a hatred for Daisy and Cara for a couple of years now. She was gonna frame them in like fifth grade, but never got to it. In seventh, that was the year, and she would do something horrible. She wanted to make them look like sluts, and so she got some ninth grade boys to go and seduce them, to make them have sex with them, and apparently one of them was Hannah's boyfriend. Your sister and Cara obviously never did it with them, but it looked like it to other people and Hannah spread the rumor that they did it with her boyfriend. They acted like nothing happened, and Hannah lied to me saying you and your sister and Cara hurt Hannah's feelings, that's why she told you to leave the table and we left you by yourself in Ms. Carlson's math class. I'm extremely sorry this happened, I promise I'll have your back, and I'll be your friend If you want, and I had nothing to do with this. I wanna tell your sister and Cara though."

I had no words. "Uh, woah. Um, okay that's okay Janie. It's not your fault. And sure, I'd like to be friends. And please, tell them. They need to know."

She beamed. "Okay. Thanks Ivy." She Was still the same bubbly, sweet Janie, just cooler and less superficial.

I felt slightly uneasy about this, but I shouldn't have.


End file.
